


Tenderness Observed

by MistyRay00



Series: Tenderness Series [4]
Category: Lost in Space (TV 2018)
Genre: Don West is a Softie, Established Relationship, F/M, Idiots in Love, John Robinson playing Nancy Drew as promised, John's POV, Parents finding out, Penny is MVP, Secret Relationship, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:09:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22273840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistyRay00/pseuds/MistyRay00
Summary: He also knows it’s a high probability that Smith is lying. Rocking the boat, trying to find an angle.That’s probably it.Has to be.But that doesn’t stop his mind from turning. It’s hardly what he’d like to think about. In the off chance that Smith actually did hear... yeah, he really doesn’t want to think about his daughter and Don doing... that.
Relationships: John Robinson/Maureen Robinson, Judy Robinson/Don West
Series: Tenderness Series [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582006
Comments: 17
Kudos: 102





	1. Chapter 1

John Robinson doesn’t know what to think.

Smith... June.... what she said doesn’t add up.

He’s seen Don and Judy together, and they are crew-mates, friends. They work well together, despite all the ridiculous amount of bickering.

They get on each other’s nerves. He was pretty sure they didn’t even like each other in the beginning.

Now, he knows that bickering and getting on nerves are hardly disqualifications for being... more than friends. Case and point, his marriage to a woman he’s very, very in love with.

But it just doesn’t seem to be that. From the outside looking in, at least. But he hasn’t really been looking. Didn’t really cross his mind. They’re far enough apart in age for him to not have really considered the possibility.

He also knows it’s a high probability that Smith is lying. Rocking the boat, trying to find an angle.

That’s probably it.

Has to be.

But that doesn’t stop his mind from turning. It’s hardly what he’d like to think about. In the off chance that Smith actually did hear... yeah, he really doesn’t want to think about his daughter and Don doing...  _ that _ .

Even if he’d missed a shift in their dynamic, would it have progressed that far already?

No, this doesn’t sound like Judy. She hardly ever brought boys home, and she was always focused on her studies, so the few that he did meet never stuck around for long.

Well, could be what she and Don have isn’t the kind of thing where you bring someone home.

He was in the military. He’s not unaware of the things that happen behind barracks. Sometimes those went deeper, but more often than not they were lonely people finding some release.

He’s sure Don isn’t unfamiliar with that type of arrangement, either.

He presses down a rush of blood and an animalistic urge to want to protect Judy, but then instantly reprimands himself.

She’s smarter and better at reading people than he’ll ever be, and she doesn’t let just anyone close to her, even if it is only... physical.

She’s a grown woman, and he trusts her judgement.

And Don’s a decent guy, even in his own judgment, despite a more than questionable past. 

Plus, if they still lived on Earth, Judy’d likely not be living with them and she could be having arrangements like this all the time, for all he would know.

It’s not his business, and  _ damn _ , he needs to not think about this anymore.

Maybe Maureen would have some thoughts.

But then again, maybe that would be a bad idea. For something that’s likely not even true, he doesn’t want her to get worked up.

He’d been really quiet through supper, and he’s hoping Maureen is interested enough in her findings of the day and how that dictates their future to question him about it.

He’s also been sitting here for far too long, and it takes Penny passing him with an empty tray to call him back to the present.

She pauses in front of him. “You okay?”

He nods, rising.

John notes the tray again. “You just feed Smith?”

Penny gives him a face. “Yeah...?”

“She say anything to you?”

“Nothing out of the usual, no. Why?”

He runs a hand over his face. He really must be overthinking this.

“Nothing.”

She looks at him, single eyebrow raised, waiting for an explanation for the obvious lie.

“Just... she mentioned hearing something earlier today. Thought she might’ve mentioned it to you too.”

Penny’s face flashes with something, but then so quickly moves to neutrality he thinks he might have imagined it.

She shrugs. “Probably just saying whatever she thinks will get her out. Plus, Judy would have mentioned it to me. She kept calling me on the coms for updates on how the readings were going.”

“She called you throughout the day?”

“Like every 10 minutes or so. Sounded bored, being stuck back here.”

Well, that settled that. If Judy was calling Penny, she wasn’t… otherwise occupied. 

He can lay his mind to rest. 

*****

It’s not a week later and his mind kicks up again. 

He laid the idea to rest, to some extent. But it had awakened an awareness of the possibility that his daughter and Don West were more than friendly. 

So he couldn’t help keeping his eyes out, watching for things he hadn’t watched before. 

That’s likely the only reason he notices. 

Don’s helping Judy reroute the wiring on some of the medical equipment, something about conserving energy. 

It’s not anything in particular that gets him. They don’t say anything, touch in any way that isn’t practical. 

But it’s  _ how _ they move around each other, the ease, despite the bantering back and forth of their conversation. It makes sense for them to have gotten closer, everyone’s gotten closer with Don, what being trapped together and everything. 

But it’s more than that. More than anyone else. It’s a precise charge they have surrounding them.

John can only compare it to two things. One, the dynamic of him and his unit. The strength of camaraderie forged in placing your lives in each other’s hands, knowing the others have your back, and you have theirs. 

That makes sense, Don and Judy have had their lives on the line right next to each other too many times to count in the past months. They all have.

But the second thing it reminds him of isn’t an easy connection of two dots. There’s not a logical explanation he’s witnessed. 

Because the second thing it reminds him of is everything aforementioned combined with the immense love and trust he has for Maureen. 

It’s a deep  _ knowing _ . 

It’s not as developed as what he and Maureen share, but he recognizes the leaves of the sapling. The foundation and what could be built on it. 

He would say he’s exaggerating based on minimal information, but he knows Judy. 

She’s not someone who is simply at ease with people. She’s not someone who trusts easily. John cringes at the knowledge that he’s helped cause that in far too many ways. 

He’s seen a similar but very different look in her eyes with Penny and Will. Like she’d burn down the world for them. And John knows she would. She’s looking at Don like that. Like he’s family. And something a little more. 

And then he looks at Don, and he smiles at Judy, and  _ god _ he knows that smile. The smile of a man who knows this woman is probably too good for him, but he’s going to give it everything he’s got and then some either way. 

And it’s unfair, it really is, of John to be projecting his experience onto them, but it’s also unfair to expect himself to not recognize patterns. 

He’s been staring for too long, and Don looks up at him, and Judy follows his gaze. John gives a singular nod and walks off, because, what else do you do? 

This is so, _ so _ much better than them sleeping together. And so,  _ so _ much fucking worse. 

John begins to wonder why they’d want to keep it a secret, but then the question instantly answers itself in his head. It’s the same reason he hasn’t mentioned anything to Maureen yet. 

The Robinsons are a family of overachievers, and they are also somewhat a family of overreactors when it comes to things like this. 

Plus, Don and Judy might not even have labeled it to each other yet. It could very much be a preliminary stages thing with a lot of trust underlying.

****

He and Maureen are getting settled in to bed a few nights later, and she’s going on about something very crucial, and he would be both a bad crewmember and husband to not be listening.

He’s both.

It’s not that he’s not trying: he is. But today he was in the supply closet in the lower deck, and they didn’t know he was in there, he saw Don take Judy’s hand and kiss it, like a shitty fairytale. Or a good one, but he wasn’t in the mood to dub it that. Judy had rolled her eyes and snapped her hand back, nothing unusual there. 

But when Don went to head back up, Judy called after him, jogging over. She ran her hand along his jaw and up over his scalp above his ear. Don leant into it, into her, and holy shit, he should not be here because they are obviously about to…

Maureen’s voice carried from upstairs, and they jolted apart. 

Don ran a finger over her lip, winked, and whispered what sounded like “Later.” 

Judy turned around smiling, grabbed the item she needed, then followed up after him a couple seconds later. 

John’s pretty sure he saw red. What the hell does “later” mean? 

It  _ still  _ is absolutely not his business, but he is incapable of not caring. It’s Judy’s life, her decisions, and he’ll respect that with everything in him. But that’s also his  _ daughter _ , for god’s sake, and how can he expect himself to be neutral?

And there’s not a lot on a very tiny ship on a tiny stretch of beach to occupy his mind otherwise.

“Later” can mean a lot of things, right? Obviously, they have talked some things out, and they’re aware they like each other, at least. Just kissing each other when they can, then? 

Or…

Maureen’s slightly annoyed tone brings him back to the present. “John, your mind is apparently elsewhere. You’ve been staring off for the past two minutes.”

He drops his head into his hands. “I’m sorry, I...god, I know what you’re saying is important…”

She seems to recognize his tone, and he can tangibly feel her energy soften. 

“What’s going on in your head?”

John thinks on it for a second, and decides he needs to not keep this from her. At least she needs to know some of it so she’s not blindsided like he was.

“It’s just…” he gestures aimlessly with one hand before squaring his shoulders. “I think Don and Judy might have something going on.”

When he decides to look up, she’s a little baffled looking. Then the wheels start turning. “Something like.... What exactly?”

“Something like I think they are more than friends.”

Maureen is stunned into both silence and having to sit back down.

“What makes you say that?”

“Multiple things, most recently, they didn’t know I was in the supply closet, and if they hadn’t been spooked by you upstairs, pretty sure they were gonna kiss.”

“Are you sure?”

“Maureen, I’ve spent a week on it, and once I finally started paying attention, it’s all over them, in their body language, how they just  _ are _ around each other. I’m just really pissed that it took an incorrect jab from Smith of all people that got me to pay attention.”

She sighs, cupping a hand over her chin and nose. “And I haven’t noticed at all.”

“Hey, I didn’t mean…” She cuts him off, “No, you’re right.” Then her head snaps up “Wait, Smith? John, she probably was lying to you and you should..”

“ I know, she was. She said she heard something, that day I was out with Will collecting samples and you were doing the readings with Penny.” 

Maureen nods, fully concentrated on what he’s saying.

“But Penny debunked it later. Explained how Judy was on the coms with her every ten minutes or so, sounding bored. But what Smith said just got me thinking, you know…”

“Penny wasn’t on her comm.”

John’s mind comes to a screeching halt. “What?”

“All day. The only time we used the comm is that one time you called in to us. We never called back to the Juipter.”

John opened and closed his mouth. “So Penny lied.” And if she was lying that meant…  _ holy shit. _

Maureen nodded. “But why would she… wait, what  _ did _ Smith say she heard?”


	2. Chapter 2

John hesitated for a second too long, because his sheepishness around answering that question became somewhat of an answer of its own.

“John? What did she hear?”

The look on Maureen’s face solidifies a single thought: He would have approached this very differently if he had known Smith might actually be right. This isn’t the way he wanted her to find out. Hell, it’s not the way  _ he _ wanted to find out. 

She drops her incineratingly intense gaze, exasperated. “If it’s honestly that bad…”

“Moaning, okay?” John closes his eyes, hoping the darkness will ease the discomfort of the discussion.  _ Have kids, it’ll be fun. Go to space, that’ll be cool. Recruit the help of a mechanic, that’ll be helpful. He definitely won’t be getting it on with your daughter in addition to fixing your ship.  _

Her hands goes to her mouth, gently, as if to see that her lips are still there, still work. Because her lips go to move several times, but no words come. 

“That doesn’t mean…” she finally starts to find the thought. “Smith is just doing her deceiving little game again, it’s not like…”

“Then why would Penny lie?” John asks as much to himself as to Maureen.

She pauses, contemplating it. “Do you think she’s covering for them?”

John gives an incline of his head. “Might.”

“Why?”

John shrugs, a motion meant to be casual, but the tension in his shoulders hardly allowed it to come off that way. “Your guess is as good as mine. Look, it’s… not ideal. And it’s hardly expected..”

“Probably not even true.” Maureen says, staring at the wall.

“Okay, stick with me. True, not true: it’s really not up for us to comment either way, is it? I mean, she’s an adult, Maureen. If she and Don are…” The Navy was hardly shy about their wording of things, but he cannot bring himself to voice even the least vulgar expression. 

“I know, it just… worries me. For a number of reasons.” The fight is gone from her. What she was fighting, he’s not sure, but her defense stance is down. He wraps an arm around her. 

“Me too. But Judy doesn’t do much without thinking it through. I trust her judgement, if nothing else. I think you should think about doing the same.”

After a long inhale, she nods. 

“Plus, after watching them for a bit, I think there’s some good potential there. And you have to admit, Don’s proven himself around here.”

She waves a hand dismissively. “This is all far too new, and it is way too late for me to think all that tonight. I have a lot of other things to think through.”

They settle down into the covers and each other, and he kisses the top of her head. 

“You think we say anything?” he asks.

She laughs. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

He hums, cracking a small smile.

It’s silent long enough he starts to fade when she says, quietly. “I think it’s like you said: not for us to comment on.”

He closes his eyes, feeling a restfulness he hasn’t felt in days at the resolution. “Sounds good.”

  
  



End file.
